Scorch Marks
by that guy who wrights
Summary: Years ago Wiess made a choice that she has regretted ever since, and now a visit from some old friends will give her a chance to make it right. A combination of Funlade's Future AU, Ailtern's Falling Petals AU, and Machinekey's Company Woman AU. First fanfic.
1. Prologue

August Schnee was troubled. He sat in a chair in the far corner of the room, but even here he couldn't avoid the idiots in his family trying schmoose there way into his good graces. But that wasn't what was troubling him. It was the look that, in recent years, had been permanently set on his daughters face. It seemed to start the day he told about the marriage arrangement he had set up between Wiess and the son of a competing company. It had made Schnee dust the only name in both dust mining and advanced technology. But it seemed to have cost his daughter dearly.

She never smiled. She only sat there, a near permanent frown etched upon her beautiful face, and it hurt. It hurt to see her so sad, just like it hurt to see her crying after every lecture he gave her about being perfect for their families company when she was growing up. He regretted it each night afterwards, in his bed when it was just him, his sleeping wife, and his thoughts. He didn't mean to make her cry, but he always managed to come up with an excuse for why she needed to be lectured. He didn't mean to demand perfection, he knew it was impossible, and the Wiess tried harder than anyone he had ever seen to achieve it. But what did he give her for her efforts? An undoubtedly unwanted husband and another lecture about how she needed to produce an heir. But little did he know he would soon have a chance to make things right, when a beautiful blonde and her faunus wife marched onto the gala entrance, an angry frown etched upon her face.


	2. Chapter 1

AN: Hey guys! So glad for the reviews I got from you, and I wanted to thank you for that! Now on to addressing some of the issues from my last chapter. They're all not going to be short, but I have a full time job, as well as other responsibilities, so updates will be few and far between. I will try toget them out ASAP, but I can't confirm any kind of schedule. Now to sum up the AU's I am combining so that no one is lost. Here goes: the Future AU, by Funblade and Amipai, is actually well known in the community so I feel that I don't have to give explanation, and I will be sticking to the pairings in that AU. The Company Woman AU has Wiess choosing the company over Ruby, and going along with her fathers plan of an arranged marriage. The Falling petals AU sees Cinder falling in love with Ruby, kidnapping her, drugging her, and brainwashing her so that she loves Cinder, and she has no memory of her previous life aside from a white haired girl whom she dreams about. Now on with this story.

Wiess frowned, looking down upon her _husband_, as he passed out drunk at yet another party. While she was happy that would be to out of it to try and get her into bed with him tonight, it was still an embarrassment to Schnee industries when the so called CEO was yet again making a tremendous fool of himself.

Why was she fated to be nothing more than a tool for the SDC to gain more power? She ran the company from behind the scenes far better than her _husband _ever could. That was if he was sober enough to do it. She despised him. From his personality to his very touch. If it weren't his father building Vale's largest tech company, he would have amounted to nothing in life, of that she was certain.

The party was a large affair, almost 200 people, yet the ballroom that the SDC had rented out held more than enough room for each and every person. Even this party she organized without recognition.

"Mrs. Schnee," said one of the servants knowing that she still refused to be called by her husbands last name, to the point of ignoring anyone who called her as such. "The liquor stock is running short ma'am, what should we do?"

Wiess looked up at the servant from her seated position "well what do you think you fool? Simply go to the nearest pub and replenish the stock!" she said with a frown. _Some people are such dol- _she would finish that though. That name no longer held any negative connotation in her mind. It only made Wiess to think of _her_, the one person Wiess wouldn't, _couldn't _think about, because it still hurt so much.

"Mrs. Schnee?" the same servant reappeared after a short while. "Mrs. Schnee the owner of the only bar in town with enough liquor to fully restore our stock is rather insistent that she see you promptly ma'am."

"Well then send her to me at once! Let's get this over with so we can finally put this issue to rest." Wiess said with obvious annoyance in her voice.

"Of course ma'am. May I Introduce the Mrs. Yang and Blake Belladonna-Long." Wiess froze in place. Those names were ones she thought she would never hear again. She didn't even question the fact they were married, or that they owned a bar. They both seemed obvious, really. What concerned her, however, was the _she _may not be far behind if Yang and Blake were here.

Both anticipation and dread clutched at her mostly frozen heart as she saw Yang and Blake approach. Fear came into play when, as they came closer, cutting through the crowd, Yang's eyes turned red from their usual lilac. Blake's comforting hold on her hand seemed to be the only thing keeping her from charging Wiess.

But what was at the forefront of her mind was what she would say. Yang had every right to be angry. She had made a selfish choice and hurt _her_ in the process. That was something she regretted every single solitary day of her life. She didn't have much time to think of anything to say as they finally reached her.

"Hello, traitor." Yang said with contempt dripping from every syllable. Blake, however, was far more calm and collected, but with a sad look in her eye. "Yang." she said, "if you're not able to calm down then please let me do the talking" Yang looked at Blake, anger plastered on her face, but as she looked into her eyes Wiess could see her eye color shift back to her usual lilac.

"I'm sorry Blake."

"I Know"

"If she was there-"

"I know"

"I miss her so much!"

"I do too, Yang." Said Blake, her voice breaking on the last part.

"Glad to know I'm missed." Said Wiess, being around her old teammates bringing out some of her old self.

"we weren't talking about you, Wiess" Blake said, the sad look upon her face worsening.

"then wh-"

"Wiess, my daughter, who are these people? They're not like our usual guests." Her father interjected, bringing himself into the conversation.

"Father! These are my old teammates from Beacon. Yang and Blake"

"I see. And what business bring you too this party." Said August, his interest genuinely peaked.

"They are here to-"

"Wiess, how many times have I told you, speak when you are spoken too!" her father near shouted at her.

"yes father." Wiess muttered dejectedly.

"Still your fathers lapdog, eh Schnee? You know if you were there for her where you belong then none of this would have happened!" Yang cried out, her eyes shifting back to red.

"what are you referring too?" Wiess said worry in her voice. She begged and pleaded internally that this wasn't what she thought.

"Wiess," Blake said. "Ruby's dead"

Wiess screamed.


	3. Chapter 2

August watched as his daughter lay on the floor, weeping. No, weeping wasn't the right word for it. It

was like she was in literal, debilitating pain. But, as much as it hurt him to do this, there was a crowd

forming around Wiess, wondering what was wrong, filling the room with hushed whispers as they talked

amongst among themselves. They stopped all at once however, when August began to make his way

through the crowd to pick Wiess up into his arms and making his way out of the room, he beckoned the

two girls that had been speaking with Wiess to follow. As they neared the entrance to the building, a

limo pulled up in front of them, the powered doors opened as August neared them. With a word to the

driver they were off to a private location to speak.

Deciding that the vehicle would not be the best place to have what he could tell was a very important

discussion, he chose to have the driver take them to the nearby Schnee estate, where his home office

was, and where the best place to speak would be. The other two chose not to break his silence, each

keeping an incredibly close proximity to the other. He was unsure if this was for the best however, as

now the only audible sound was his daughters cries of sheer agony, along with occasional uttering of

"no" before more crying. He had never seen her so helpless, vulnerable. It almost made him break down

and cry as he listened to her weeping as he still held her, each needing something, _someone_ to hold

onto to keep from losing themselves in their respective pains. As the neared the house, he finally spoke.

"my office is close to the front of the estate. Follow me." While he was unsure if these 'friends' of Wiess

had meant her any harm, the blond showed a clear and unfiltered animosity towards Wiess, and while

the other was much more collected and near unreadable to him, what stood out most to him were the

cat ears on her head. His war with the White Fang made him wary around any Faunus, despite the fact

that even he knew it was beginning to border paranoia. They made their way into house, up the large

staircase, and into his office. Shutting the door behind so as to avoid eavesdroppers, he set his daughter

down on a nearby couch and then turned to the young couple that had followed them in and began his

quest for answers.

"Now, lets start again with who you are, how you know my daughter, and why this 'Ruby' dying is

causing her so much distress." He said, concern evident on his face as he glanced back to his daughter,

still lying on his couch whimpering as he said the last word.

The two young women looked at each other before the faunus spoke up. "we were Wiess' teammates at

Beacon. Ruby is- was our team leader, and Wiess' partner." She said, her voice cracking when she had to

correct herself.

This answer confused August more than it did help him. "I can understand her being upset by the loss of

a friend, but Wiess has lost loved ones all her life because of your kind. Why should one more person

she knows winding up dead affect her like… this?" He couldn't help the cruelty in his tone when he

brought up the faunus. As much as he was trying to remain civil, it was hard when something he had

been angry at constantly for years on end was in the same room.

If the girl was offended however, she didn't show it, whether it be because of the situation with her

dead friend or she was just used to it, he couldn't say. The blond, however, looked like she wanted to kill

him, her eyes shifting to a blood red and her hands beginning to glow yellow as flames sprouted from

them. One calming look and an affectionate kiss to the cheek from the faunus however, and the blond

was calmed. Not only did this put him at ease but it confirmed his suspicions about the nature of their

relationship. Now that the brute had calmed down, the faunus continued.

"Wiess and Ruby…. they weren't just teammates." She looked down at the girl currently sobbing into

one of the couch pillows with pity clear in her eyes. "They were in love…"

At that moment, everything became clear to August. His daughters sadness. the tears he had convinced

himself were those of joy at her wedding. Her hatred of him. All of it was clear, and in that instant the

well constructed façade of apathy toward his daughter crumbled.

Elsewhere in an abandoned hospital somewhere in Vale…..

"She abandoned you! She didn't love you!" a woman's voice echoed through the halls, a strange mix of

apathy, cruelty, and sadness mixed in her voice.

"She did. I know it! She didn't want to leave!" a younger woman's voice followed, pain evident in her

voice, though weather emotional or physical, it was impossible to tell.

"Fine." The first voice almost sighed. "It's clear to me that if you're to be mine, then I'll have to get _her_

out of you precious little head."

"NO!" the first voice shouted, as sounds of a struggle echoed through the hospital. "anything but that!"

she cried. "I'll be yours, just let me have my memory. I don't want to forget her. I'll do anything so I

don't have to forget her." The captive sobbed.

Cinder fall frowned as she looked with pity upon her captive. She wished she didn't have to hurt her, but

it was necessary. "I'm sorry Little Red, but if you're to be mine, then we have to erase any bit of your

previous owner. I'm doing this out of love, my Little Red Riding Hood."

She inserted the needle into Ruby's neck, and tears began to fall when she saw the look of sheer _agony _

on her prizes face.

As usual I do not own RWBY, that's Roosterteeth, or the AU's associated with this, which blong to Funblade, Machinkeys, and Ailtern. Sorry that it took me so long, I'm still trying to find a schedule to sit down and work on this, but with the Destiny Beta out for PS4 what little free time I have is pretty much taken, but I'll still be trying my best to work on this fanfic for you. Also PLEASE review. I need to improve as a writer, that's very clear to me, but I can't do it without your feedback. Thank you!


	4. Chapter 4

Wiess had finally calmed down, finally accepted it. This was the end of any hope she had. She knew all these years that Ruby wouldn't come for her. Wouldn't rescue her from her lonely painful life, not after she had told her that her marriage is what would make her happy, but the idea that there was someone out there that loved her as she was without wanting anything in return, willing to sacrifice anything for _her_ without a thought gave her hope.

A hope she held onto with all her being, And now that hope was gone, as dead as the person who had kindled it. And it was Wiess' fault. Not directly, and she vowed to find the one responsible and end them, but she had promised Ruby that she would be her best teammate, and then left her, knowing the dangers of a career as a huntress.

Wiess, at last ready to speak looked up at the other people in the room and for the first time noticed the awkward silence that had fallen across the room.

Her father was looking at her with regret, an emotion she rarely had seen on his face, though it had grown more and more common in recent years. Blake was waiting for him to speak, clearly having said something to him, something that affected him greatly.

While she did this, she absentmindedly stroked Yang's back, who busied herself with adjusting her gear and playing with her hair, just to avoid the awkwardness. Wiess decided to that someone needed to disturb the silence and began to speak, but her father interrupted her before she could.

"Why are you here? Just to throw insults at my daughter? It wasn't her fault your friend passed." he said, anger and hurt evident in his voice, though at who no one could say but himself.

Blake looked to Yang who then spoke, surprisingly calm, especially for yang. "Wiess has an entire page dedicated to her in Ruby's will, and she needs to know the day of the funeral."

"What makes you think she will agree to go?" her father said, interrupting her yet again. Yang's response this time was more typical of what to expect from her.

With her eyes flared red, and her semblance blazing around her, she shouted "Because Wiess owes Ruby so much that the least she could do is show up. So she'll be there if I have to drag her there myself!"

Wiess stood up just as her father was about to reply. "There is no need for that yang. I would honored." she said as evenly as possible. In truth, however, she was torn. On one hand, she _did_ owe ruby a debt that she could never repay. Their years together were the happiest of her entire life and now she could never have that happiness again.

On the other hand, she wasn't sure she could face her old friends again. She failed to see an encounter with Nora going well, and she didn't want to imagine how her other friends would look at her. She was surprised she even still considered them her 'friends'. Surely they can't extend her the same courtesy, and the most certainly must hate her after how she left.

Her father looked at her a bit surprised, but then looked to Blake and Yang. "If you have any further business here, speak now. If not, please leave, and leave me to speak with my daughter."

Blake looked at Wiess with pity clear in her eyes. The look Yang gave her, however, was diferent. It wasn't the hate filled expression Yang had plastered on her face when they first reunited earlier that night, nor the look of sympathy Blake had given her.

These emotions were there, but there was also something else, something familiar that she just couldn't place. But before she had time to speak to either of them her father had practically shoved them through the door, before shouting at his servants to show them the way out _promptly_.

He then turned to Wiess, looking more tired than she had ever seen him before. Not just physically tired either, but emotionally tired. He was looking at Wiess with more pain in his eyes now than any other time that she could remember.

"It would seem we have some things to discuss." He said, exhaustion growing more and more evident with every word.

"I don't see any reason we should talk. This is a personal matter I will attend to on my own time." Wiess said, just wanting to be left alone, yet unable to speak anyway other than the polite way of speech that had been ingrained in her from the time she was a child.

"Wiess I am sorry your…. _friend _has past away, and I'm aware that I've wronged you, horribly, and that in the past I was not what most would consider a good parent. Even the word parent is not something I'd use to describe myself regarding you, but I still love you, you're still my child, and I feel it necessary to be there for you. I _need _to do this." He said, still as cordial as ever, even though he was very clearly uncomfortable speaking with Wiess on anything resembling a personal level. But to him that just showed how much of a failure he had been as a father.

Wiess was about to respond when a new voice was heard. "I don't think that she needs _your_ comfort, _father_." Said her younger sister, Winter Schnee , speaking from the now ajar door to August's office. She bore a hard look of anger towards him.

Ever since her sister had tracked Wiess down one night almost a year ago, having seen her alone and crying the night before, and asked Wiess why she seemed so depressed whenever Winter saw her, despite being given so much, Wiess, who had been alone for far too long now without anyone to listen to her, comfort her, finally broke down and told winter everything.

Winter had assumed that Wiess had been given the same treatment she had growing up, having been spoiled from an early age without any of the familial responsibility that Wiess was forced to give everything up to assume.

Since then she began to feel an incredible level of contempt for her father for seemingly treating her as the favorite while showing no affection towards Wiess whatsoever. She hated herself for not noticing, and she hated her family for all of the horrible things it did even to it's own members, let alone the other cruelties she had ignored so she could continue her happy little fantasy.

It was like the wool was pulled from over her eyes, and she could finally see the pain that had been caused to others while she lived in near eternal bliss, being given everything she wanted without any stipulations or exceptions.

She had assumed that Wiess had lived like this too, that she married out of love and not some sick, twisted business deal. She had been too wrapped up in her own little world to notice the pain her father, who was so kind and loving to her, had inflicted on her sister. She had become determined to find a way to hurt their father, keeping up the kind, loving daughter act so that when he least expected it, she could hurt him.

August was shocked by the new biting tone in Winters voice. She had been so kind to him all her life. He was always able to rationalize his cruelty toward Wiess as being for the company, seeing as she was his firstborn, his heir, who would one day inherit the Schnee empire, but even as she became more and more a pawn, and later a bargaining chip to use as a way to unite his company with his strongest opposition through Wiess' marriage, but he found he couldn't do any of that to winter.

After his first wife, their mother, had lost her battle with cancer, and his obsession with expanding the company grew, a fire that was constantly stoked by the white fang attacks, he began to see reconciling with Wiess as a lost cause, and so saw his youngest as a second chance. He had given her everything she wanted and she loved him for it, and now, to hear such a biting, hateful tone coming from her, it shocked him to no end.

Winter had moved to Wiess' side, a comforting grip on her hand, occasionally throwing angry glares at their father. Wiess needed the contact if she was honest. Needed any source of warmth and comfort however small to slow the growth of ice around Wiess' heart, choking her, consuming her.

Even with someone there for her, she knew that the loneliness she feared so much would finally take her. The one person who had given her respite, thawed her heart, was gone. Dead, because of her selfishness. Ruby had taken away her loneliness, chipping away at her icy heart bit by bit. But it wasn't enough for Wiess. No matter how much comfort and companionship Ruby gave her, she could still feel the ice evading Ruby's warmth.

It wasn't until years later that she realized that it was hope. Hope that her father would finally see her as a daughter, love her, and be proud of her. But by the time she realized this it was too late. She was married to a man she hardly knew, and her father was as distant as ever. She had gained nothing, but lost the one thing she loved most in the world. Every time she closed her eyes she saw ruby lying in a pool of blood. She knew what she was going to do next. She had failed in her promise to be the Ruby's best teammate, but she wouldn't fail in this.

She would see what Ruby had written for her in her will, attend her funeral, and then go on the warpath. Be it Grimm or human, the monster who had ended Ruby's life would suffer. Then Wiess Schnee would disappear, Fade from public eye and journey into the Emerald Forest, Where they first became partners, where her life truly began, and where it would end.

As always, I don't own RWBY or these AU's. RWBY is Roosterteeth's and the AU's I'm connecting belong to Funblade, Ailtern, and Machine Keys. I'm sorry it took me so long to get this out, but life stuff came up for about a month. But anyway, I tried to put in a bit more time into writing this one once all that personal stuff wrapped up, and now I can say I like the finished product. Please review no matter how critical, but no flames please.


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